In vivo 3-D vector velocity estimation with continuous data

In this study, a method for estimating 3-D vector velocities at very high frame rate using continuous data acquisition is presented. An emission sequence was designed to acquire real-time continuous data in one plane. The transverse oscillation (TO) method was used to estimate 3-D vector flow in a carotid flow phantom and in vivo in the common carotid artery of a healthy 27-year old female. Based on the out-of-plane velocity component during four periodic cycles, estimated flow rates in an experimental setup was 2.96 ml/s ± 0.35 ml/s compared to the expected 3.06 ml/s ± 0.09 ml/s. In the in vivo measurements, three heart cycles acquired at 2.1 kHz showed peak out-of-plane velocities of 83 cm/s, 87 cm/s and 90 cm/s in agreement with the 92 cm/s found with spectral Doppler. Mean flow rate was estimated to 257 ml/min. The results demonstrate that accurate real-time 3-D vector velocities can be obtained using the TO method, which can be used to improve operator-independece when examining blood flow in vivo, thereby increasing accuracy and consistency.